“We all go a little mad sometimes.” ~psycho

Rich got back from the duathalon World Championships a couple days ago; he got 31st in the world, which is really, really good. He trains so much that he deserved to do well. He was gone for about a week, and I missed him.

Last night Rich’s running team had a Quiz Show fundraiser. He somehow convinced me to be on a team with him and his buddy. Most of the questions had to do with New Zealand so I wasn’t much help, but it was still fun. It was at a bar, and the three of us finished three pitchers of beer during the competition, so that loosened me up. And we didn’t finish last, which we were proud of. It wasn’t fun getting up at 7:30am the next morning for class, but I was glad I went.

Tonight Rich, Matt, Perrine and I had dessert at this restaurant called Tull (named after Jethro) that specializes in dessert. It was really good. Matt and Rich each got a Chocolate Massacre, which is a plate of three of their desserts. They got certificates for finishing it; it was huge. I would have tried it if I liked coffee (one of the desserts had coffee flavoring) and if it were a little cheaper ($15 is a lot to blow on one dessert). It was a good restaurant, though. And now I'm stuffed.

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” ~the princess bride

I LOVE that movie.
Have I mentioned I’ve been really happy lately? Everything’s been going well. Of course that always makes me nervous, because I keep expecting something bad to happen. But, for now, I’m extremely content.
Of course there are little moments of unhappiness, though. I’ve become addicted to New Zealand Idol, and the girl I wanted to win got voted off last night. All the judges agreed that she was by far the best singer out of the group and that she should have won the entire thing, but the stupid teeny-boppers who are voting seem to prefer the few hot guys that are left, despite the fact that they can’t sing. I’m very bitter about this. Yes, the guys are hot, but this girl has one of the most amazing voices I’ve ever heard. Hopefully she’ll get a record deal anyway. I was seriously almost in tears; that’s how mad I was. I definitely would have cried if my flatmates weren’t there. So I don’t think I’ll watch the show anymore. It will just anger me even further, and I don’t need that. I’d like to maintain my general state of happiness.
The one other factor that detracts slightly from my good mood is schoolwork. I have an essay due on Thursday for Victorian Literature. I talked to my lecturer about it and he convinced me to go in a slightly different direction than I was planning. It made sense to me while we were talking, but now I’m thinking that he really didn’t understand my idea and I might have been better off not taking his advice. But I can’t change it now because I’ve gone too far with this and I’d have to basically scrap the whole thing and start over, and I don’t want to do that. So I’ve got to figure out a way to make this theory hold up. Which is proving to be very tricky.

“I want the fairytale.” ~pretty woman

I HAVE A NEW BABY COUSIN! I’m excited. I’m pretty sure this’ll be the last cousin I get; my aunts and uncles are getting old. I have 10 cousins now, and I’m the oldest. My new cousin’s name is Chase. I can’t wait to see him. I’m so happy!

“I think people should mate for life, like pigeons or Catholics.” ~manhattan

heehee. Woody Allen is funny. I love the implication that Catholics aren’t people.
In my New Zealand Society & Religion class, I’m learning all about the history of religious tension in NZ (there’s lots of it). It’s such an interesting class. It’s a little difficult for me, though, because I don’t know anything about NZ history, and it’s sort of assumed that you already know all that. But I got an A+ on my presentation, so I’m coping pretty well I guess! We’ll see if I still feel that way after I get my essay back (that’s worth 40% of my grade. Gulp.)

So I’m very popular now. Last night three different people/groups of people wanted to hang out with me. Aren’t I cool? (don’t answer that). But I’m still boring at heart, so I went for the low-key option of going out for coffee (or hot chocolate for me because I don’t drink coffee) and seeing a movie with my friend Nicole. Anyway, this coffee place that we went to is amazing. They serve the drinks (coffee, hot chocolate, etc.) in soup bowls. My hot chocolate was like chocolate soup; I ate it with a spoon. And it was soooo good.
This morning I had brunch with the girls next door. They cooked eggs, french toast, and Swedish pancakes (one of the girls is Swedish). It was incredibly tasty. And we watched The Italian Job as we ate.
I have an essay to write this weekend and a book to read and I’ve done nothing. Tonight I’m hanging out with Nicole again. I figure that I need to have some fun while I’m here. My grades won’t transfer back, so I just need to pass all my classes and I’ll get credit for them. I’m not exactly slacking, but I’m less stressed and more willing to have fun than at Richmond. And I like it.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” ~ferris bueller’s day off

I’m going crazy. I was walking home from class this morning and I stopped because I thought I left my umbrella in the classroom. So I turned around to go back and get it, and finally realized that it was raining and I was using my umbrella. I WAS HOLDING MY UMBRELLA OVER MY HEAD AS I WALKED BACK TO GET IT. At least I realized it before I got back to the classroom. I’m losing my mind.

I love getting emails from best friends. It’s seriously pathetic how excited I was when I got one today. If anyone reading this wants to write to me, please do. I love getting emails. I’m awful at writing them, but I love reading them. So if you’re looking for someone who will listen to you vent or if you just want to recap what’s going on in your life, I’m your girl.